Introduction Women and children are the integral part of the world population and are more vulnerable to ill health.
Maternal death is a tragedy for children, for families and for the communities as whole. Of world all maternal
deaths, 99 percent occurs in developing countries. Most of the maternal deaths can be avoided if preventative
measures are taken place adequately.
Objectives To identify existing educational status of the women and the maternal and child health care practices.
Methods Data collection was carried out in the month of August and September 2003 among 73 women of three
different Village Development Committees (VDC) of Jumla district. Questionnaire was pre-tested. Interviewer
assisted structured questionnaire was employed which consisted socio-economic and general characteristics,
educational profile, antenatal care, delivery care and postnatal care.
Results Overall women's educational status of Jumla district is poor, which accounts 64.4 percent women were
illiterate and their practice on maternal and child health care found to be poor. Only one third (34.3%) women
had visited 4 or >4 times antenatal check-ups during an entire last pregnancy, 28.8 percent women had not
visited ANC check-ups during their entire last pregnancy who almost all (95.2%) were identified to be
illiterate. Most of the women were aged between 20 and 30 years, more than three-quarter (78.1%) women's
occupation was agriculture and their approximate household annual income was very low. More than one-third
(37.0%) had approximate annual income was below NRs. 12,000 (approximate 170 USD, in 2003). One in two
(49.3%) women had got married at their age of between 10 and 15 years with the illiteracy rate of 72.2 percent.
The overall mean age at marriage was 14.7 years with the mean age at first birth 16.6 years. Home was
considered as the first place of giving birth for more than 95 percent women with the majority (62.8%)
illiteracy. More than 50 percent women's last deliveries were conducted by traditional birth attendants (TBAs)
(untrained) with the 44.4 percent umbilical cord cutting practice by the sterilized instrument.
Conclusion The study findings show the overall educational status and MCH care practices during pregnancy, during
delivery and after delivery of the women in Jumla district are very poor which can be prevented and improved
as well by raising educational status and improving all health related programs throughout the district
emphasizing easy accessible and maximum utilization with community participation.